July 2014 Review - Sydney

It was a fairly warm, rather dry and mostly sunny July for Sydney in 2014. Most of the month was slightly above average at Sydney Airport, but a late flurry of warm days pushed the average maximum up to the second highest on record. Less than 10mm of precipitation was recorded, making it the sixth driest July on record.

The graph below shows the average minimums and maximums at the Airport since 2009. The long term average is also shown.

July averages at Sydney Airport for the period 2009-2014 plus the long term average

After setting the record last year for the highest average maximum, 2014 served up the second highest since 1939. With 3 days remaining in the month the average stood at 18.1C, but tops of 23.9C, 25.1C and 25.8C, the month's 3 warmest days, helped it climb above the 18.7C average shared by 1949, 1975 and 2005. As mentioned previously, July 30 and 31's maximums made it the first time on record for 2 consecutive July days above 25C. They also marked only the 8th and 9th July days above 25C since 1939.

Also with 3 days remaining, the average minimum looked like it would be the coldest since 2008. July 29 to 31 pushed that figure from 8.3C to 8.7C.

July 2014's overall top of 25.8C was the second highest July temperature on record. July 31 also recorded the month's highest minimum, a reading of 13.4C. The month's coldest day came on the 13th when it only reached 14.1C. July 19 and 20 were the only other days that failed to go above 15C. The coldest temperature of the month was recorded during the morning of July 9, a chilly 5.7C.

July is typically the second driest month of the year for Sydney, but rainfall for 2014 was well below the average of 70.6mm. A monthly total of only 8.2mm made it the sixth driest July at the Airport since 1930. Rain was recorded on only 7 days of the month. July 26 was responsible for the highest daily rainfall, a measly 3.4mm.

Daily rainfall totals at Sydney Airport for July 2014

There were 2 streaks of 8 days without rain during the month. July 1 to 8 extended the 14 day streak from the second half of June to 22, while July 17 to 24 also saw no falls.

Winds were up on last year's figures. July 2014 saw an average maximum daily gust of 44.9km/h, compared to 38.2km/h last July. July 9 saw the month's strongest with a westerly at 81km/h. The weakest gust, a northwesterly at 22km/h, was recorded on the 23rd. This was also the weakest highest daily gust since May 18.

Another interesting observation that can be seen in the Bureau of Meteorology records is that the first 13 days of the month were almost entirely cloud free. July 1 to 13 all recorded more than 9 hours of sunlight each. With a maximum of around 10 hours possible per day at that time of year, that run is quite remarkable.